Bay of Arguin

Bay of Arguin
Map of the wider gulf area showing the Banc d'Arguin National Park
Bay of Arguin Location in Mauritania
Coordinates	20°36′N 16°29′W / 20.6°N 16.49°W / 20.6; -16.49Coordinates: 20°36′N 16°29′W / 20.6°N 16.49°W / 20.6; -16.49
Native name	Error: {{native name}}: an IETF language tag as parameter {{{1}}} is required (help)
Ocean/sea sources	Atlantic Ocean
Basin countries	Mauritania
Max. length	13 km (8.1 mi)
Max. width	20 km (12 mi)
Islands	Île d’Arguin, Île de l'Ardent

The Bay of Arguin (French: Baie d'Arguin; Portuguese: Baía de Arguim) is a bay on the Atlantic shore of Mauritania.^[1]

Geography[]

It is located south of Cap Blanc, north of .

The bay contains three islands, including Arguin and Tidra, as well as numerous sandbanks. It is also the site of the 12,000 km² Banc d'Arguin National Park which includes most of the bay. The park's northern boundary is at Minou; it does not include the Dakhlet Nouadhibou, or the westernmost areas. Smaller bays within the Bay of Arguin include Dakhlet Nouadhibou in the north and Baie de Tanoudert in the east. Other promontories include , Cap Sainte-Anne, Argun, , and . The Oued , a seasonal and occasional stream flowing only when the climate is partly wet, is in the north-central part.

Inhabited places by the bay include Nouadhibou in the north, and to the east and , and to the south.

History[]

The bay is the possible location of Cerne, a Carthaginian outpost founded by Hanno the Navigator around 500 B.C.

In 1035, Abdallah ibn Yasin founded a ribat (military refuge) on the island of Tidra at the origins of the Almoravid Dynasty.^[2]

The first European to visit the bay was Nuno Tristão in 1443, after which the remainder of the bay was explored.

The area is also known as the place where the French frigate Méduse was famously wrecked in 1816.^[3]

References[]

External links[]

• Satellite photographs of the bay by the European Space Agency

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